O'Sullivan wins 5th snooker world title

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Sheffield, England • Ronnie O'Sullivan won his fifth world championship snooker title Monday, beating fellow Englishman Barry Hawkins 18-12 in his first tournament since returning from a long sabbatical.

He became the first player to successfully defend the title since Stephen Hendry in 1996. His previous victories came in 2001, '04, '08 and last year.

He spent the past year out of the game to deal with personal issues. He announced in February he would be defending his title.

The only players to have won snooker's top prize more times are Hendry (seven), Steve Davis and Ray Reardon (both with six).

O'Sullivan has never lost a final. Hawkins was playing in his first world final.

Share This Article

USER COMMENTS

Reader comments on sltrib.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Salt Lake Tribune. We will delete comments containing obscenities, personal attacks and inappropriate or offensive remarks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. If you see an objectionable comment, please alert us by clicking the arrow on the upper right side of the comment and selecting "Flag comment as inappropriate". If you've recently registered with Disqus or aren't seeing your comments immediately, you may need to verify your email address. To do so, visit disqus.com/account. See more about comments here.